SICB Meeting Implementation of the Grand Challenges in Organismal Biology held in Seattle, WA

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The overall goal of the "Grand Challenges in Organismal Biology" initiative is to engage scientists in discussions that will shape future efforts towards creating new research foci that will address scientific and societal interests in the 21st century. The Grand Challenges were described in a white paper published in Integrative and Comparative Biology, the journal for the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB). They identify the "organism" as the crucial intersection at which our understanding of biological phenomena expands within the sciences, and develop from that understanding to meet the needs of society. Five main research areas were identified: 1) understanding the organism's role in organism-environment linkages, 2) utilizing the functional diversity of organisms, 3) an integrated approach to analysis of living and physical systems, 4) understanding how genomes produce organisms, and 5) understanding how organisms walk the tightrope between stability of form and function on the one hand, and dynamics of change inherent to all organisms. To begin a national dialog about the Grand Challenges, a workshop will be held at the SICB annual meeting in Seattle, January 2010. The workshop participants will include four authors of the Grand Challenges papers, plus six members of executive boards of professional organizations other than SICB and its sister societies. The participants represent a diverse group of scientists with respect to gender, research area, and membership of groups underrepresented in science and engineering. Panel members will lead discussions to identify possible areas of intersection and synergy among the Grand Challenges, and will discuss the role of their disciplines in addressing these issues. This workshop will produce a "white paper" that outlines possible future research directions aimed at stimulating additional national conversations, and community-driven development of a research agenda for organismal biology.